Investment company Wynn XS Limited uses cold callers to persuade people to take their savings out of the safety of a bank account or pension and pump the money into fine wines.

How do they do it?

“We hypnotise them,” said boss Aaron Scott-Britten, above.

“A good opener will take the client down a path. You only want them to see what you want them to see.”

That was just one of several ­extraordinary remarks witnessed by my colleague Antonia Paget after she applied undercover for a job at the firm.

The investigation began when I saw an advert calling for “money-driven performers” and offering up to £120,000 a year.

Red alert: People with no experience of wine trade have been recruited (Image: Getty)

Successful recruits would sell wine as investments to the public, yet Antonia got the job even after telling Wynn XS that she had no experience of the wine industry.

Director Aaron Scott-Britten, 26, said there were at least four people in the “multi-million pound” company “earning more than the CEO of British Gas” and ­promised to give new recruits “the basic tactics to get rich”.

The office was a small rented room off Whitechapel Road in the East End of London, and not at the City address given on its website. The cold callers were not even allowed to sit, having to stand at high tables all day while hitting the phones.

That didn't stop them acting out a power-dressing fantasy, wearing three-piece suits as if playing extras in Wall Street.

The company logo implies that Wynn XS has been in the wine trade for a decade, but it lay dormant until 2012 and its latest filed accounts show total assets less liabilities of just £30,504.

The public is given a very different impression.

Its website explains how the company specialises in “the scarcest wines from the regions of Bordeaux and Burgundy”.

“We pride ourselves in the delivery of a comprehensive, first-class tailored service to each and every client,” the site boasts.

New employees, as Antonia discovered, are told to learn a sales script which states: “Small fortunes are always being made overnight within this market.”

In an effort to hook customers, the cold callers are then taught a series of ­psychological ploys.

If a potential client says “I’m not ­interested”, the broker is told to continue the pitch regardless by saying: “You watch the BBC right? The BBC has stated that fine wine was the most secure asset in history and is also completely tax free.”

Here’s the script used if they’re talking to a man who wants to discuss investing with his wife.

“I understand where you’re coming from, being married for three years,” the broker says, even if he’s single.

“I know the wife would rather a new kitchen or a nice holiday ha ha ha ha.

“Now us as married men, we make financial decisions not just for ourselves but for our families as well, right?

“You’ve had the chance to speak to me and educate yourself in the wine market.

“As you can understand, it wouldn’t be fair to put pressure on your wife as she hasn’t had the chance to educate herself.

“Due to her lack of knowledge, it would only be natural for her to pass on this great commodity, which is ­understandable, isn’t it?

“Now trusting in your own good ­judgment, at what level would you feel comfortable to invest?”

Brokers also dissuade people from seeking independent financial advice.

After insisting that such an adviser would not understand wine investments, the cold caller continues: “So with that in mind, is £5,000 an amount you could feel comfortable in investing?” Senior sellers even lie about having worked at investment bank Goldman Sachs.

Morning meetings were spent discussing the expensive cars and Rolex watches that staff hoped to buy with their next bonus, while background music included Abba’s Money Money Money, Queen’s We Are The Champions and Eye Of The Tiger by Survivor.

One senior broker said: “It’s a hard life this brokering lark, you chat to people and earn a f*** ton of money”.

I don’t know what price Wynn sells wine at or whether it is good value, but I do know that expert wine bloggers such as Jim Budd say: “Never buy from a wine investment company that cold calls you.”

And I know that some of the advice given by Wynn needs to be treated very carefully.

It claims that wine investments are tax free, but the position is not that simple and tax is paid on high-end vintages with a long shelf life.

Worse, Wynn XS is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, which means that you have no recourse to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

When Antonia revealed her true ­identity and tried to question 26-year-old Scott-Britten about the company, he bottled it and ran away down Whitechapel Road.

Layla Elhannach outside AMP house in Croydon

In a separate investigation, Antonia was also accepted for a wine investment sales job by TML Marketing Limited.

It was hiring staff to make calls on behalf of UK Vintners (of London) Plc, which is registered at the same building in Croydon, Surrey.

During the three-day training, Antonia learnt more tricks, especially in handling objections. If someone says they’re not interested, the scripted response was to reply: “Everything you are interested in you’re already doing?

“And whilst I do congratulate you on that, would you agree that there might be some people out there getting slightly better returns than others? And if you knew what they were doing, and you understood it, and liked it, you’d probably be doing it too, wouldn’t you?”

If someone said they were too old to start investing in wine, the response was: “Your priorities and goals have changed as you’ve got older, right?

“And would you agree, like some of our more elderly clients, it’s not all about taking care of yourself nowadays but even more importantly taking care of the loved ones around you?”

If the potential client said they were too busy the reply was: “Your time is very important to you, right?

“Well, would you agree that because of your busy schedule you may not get to see every opportunity that could benefit you?”

Antonia was also instructed to use phrases such as “trust this market”, “come on board” and “see profit”, this was to “influence people at the subconscious level” into investing.

When Antonia revealed herself as a Mirror reporter to TML, its training supervisor Layla Elhannach said: “TML are generating prospects that are financially in a good state of mind and want to better themselves.

“No one’s pushed into the market, kicking and screaming.”

But it is possible they’re not given all the facts, such as the following.

A case of Lafite Rothschild 1986 on the UK Vintners’ website costs £12,500, compared to £8,850 from established wine merchants.

UK Vintners did not respond to our questions.

*Fraudulent investment company Westminster Fine Wines Limited took £335,000 from the public for wine that it never bought.

The firm’s boss, 35-year-old Jeff Berrill from Northampton, has now been banned from being a director for 12 years.

Last November, he pleaded guilty at Blackfriars crown court in London to fraud by false representation and was sentenced to 12 months’ jail, suspended for two years.